As the preparations for the 2018-19 season get underway for Rovers in Austria, with the aim of getting back into shape following a successful season and a relaxing summer, prior to a host of pre-season friendlies around Britain, Rovers will be keen to add to their ranks prior to the start of the season. With one signing already been confirmed by Rovers, in the shape of Joe Rothwell from Oxford United, there is little expectation that Tony Mowbray’s summer dealings will end there.
With the 2018-19 Championship season expected to be one of the toughest in recent memory, mainly due to the riches which has now been pumped into the league, because of the relegated Premier League sides, Tony Mowbray will once again have to act shrewdly in the transfer market – in combination with his already known managerial ability during the season – to try and at least cement Rovers’ place in the Championship come next May.
As highlighted in the previous article, a rotational fullback, centre-back cover, wingers and forwards are all areas which should be at the forefront of Tony Mowbray’s mind, when perusing the market for his next acquisitions.
The first player targeted in this article, is a player who knows his way around Ewood Park, having already had 2 loans spells at the club. Todd Kane, who has found life difficult at Stamford Bridge, would be the perfect rotational option alongside Ryan Nyambe, and would help Rovers sure up their defence against, what is most certainly going to be, tougher opposition.
The fullback, who enjoyed a season and a half at Rovers between January 2013 and July 2014, became a mainstay in Gary Bowyer’s side, as Rovers narrowly missed out on the Championship playoffs in his full season at the club. Whilst only on a temporary deal, Kane impressed with his solid performances and his ability to provide assists when given the freedom to venture forward. Additionally, despite seemingly being around for ages, Kane is only 24 and although still considered a young fullback, his experience of, not only playing in the Championship for Rovers and Nottingham Forest, but in the Eredivisie for NEC Nijmegen and Groningen, will set the Chelsea man in good stead if given the opportunity to return to the Blues.
With Tony Mowbray seemingly favouring Ryan Nyambe as his first choice right-back, going off last season, Kane would allow Mowbray the flexibility to change up the style of his defence depending on the opposition, based on the attributes that he believed would help Rovers succeed the most in the game; for example, if Rovers came up against a team with a pacey left winger, Mowbray may prefer to play Nyambe due to his raw pace, whereas in contrast, if they lined up against a player who would make less of a physical impact, but would provide more of a threat technically, then Kane may be the better choice, due to his more composed defending style. Furthermore, the addition of Kane would give the manager leeway if a potential injury crisis was to occur, as that would leave Rovers with 3 recognised fullbacks in Nyambe, Kane and Paul Caddis – the latter of whom seems heavily out of favour – which would avoid the situation resorted to last season of Elliott Bennett at right-back.
The second target sighted is one who has, in recent weeks, been linked with a permanent switch to Ewood Park, however valuation concerns has caused the deal to be placed on hold. Patrick Bauer of Charlton Athletic played in 36 of the Addicks’ 48 league games as they bowed out of the League 1 playoffs to the eventual losing finalists Shrewsbury Town. Although the German’s contract is set to expire this time next year, Rovers’ reported bid of around £500,000 was rebuffed with Charlton looking for a fee in excess of £1million.
Bauer, who stands at 6’3”, would give Rovers the defensive cover that they lacked during the early stages of last season, prior to the signing of Paul Downing, but regardless of Downing’s permanent arrival, the extra centre-back cover would be more than welcomed in the event of an injury to either of the expected starting centre-backs, Darragh Lenihan and Charlie Mulgrew. In terms of the 25-year old’s experience, having played a season in the Championship – which albeit ended in relegation in 2015-16 – does show that the Bauer has the experience and knowledge of the division.
Although his last experience in the Championship ended sourly, Bauer’s second half of the season was cut short due to a groin operation, which saw him play his last game in December 2015. Prior to his departure from the side, Charlton were sat in 23rd and were only 1 point off safety, which meant, that had Bauer not been on the side-lines, then he could have helped his side stay in the division with his defensive performances. All in all, if Charlton become more lenient in their valuation for the player, then there is no doubt that, if Mowbray was to pursue his interest in the defender, then he would prove to be a valuable acquisition in the long run.
The third target to be analysed took the 2017-18 League 1 by storm as he single-handedly turned Plymouth Argyle’s season around after a poor start saw them placed 24th after 14 games. Graham Carey, who netted 14 goals and provided 13 assists in his 42 League 1 games put himself on the radar with goals which wouldn’t have looked out of place on a Premier League highlight reel.
The former Celtic man, who was part of the Celtic squad when Mowbray was their boss, was unable to break into the side and was shipped out to various sides on loan. Despite Mowbray’s short reign in Glasgow, he was able to see the clear talent that Carey possessed, as he identified Carey as a threat, prior to Rovers’ games against Plymouth last season. Although Carey recently turned 29, his quality cannot be denied and his return for Plymouth since joining in 2015 of 43 goals and 45 assists in 148 games shows that he does have the technical ability to make the step up into the Championship.
Alongside his ability, comes the awareness of being able to play in multiple positions across the midfield/frontline whether that being out on the wing, or down centrally, which would potentially solve Rovers’ lack of depth in the wide areas. One aspect which could help this deal potentially go through is the fact that Carey is into the last year of his contract, which is set to expire in June 2019. With this being an important factor, it might mean that an offer which Plymouth may find irresistible, may potentially prise their star man away from Home Park and with the Pilgrims yet to formally offer the Irishman an extension, it may be a ‘now or never’ scenario for Mowbray to grab hold of his former player.
A fourth man on the list unfortunately had his season cut short due to a hamstring tear which disappointed the Ewood Park faithful. Middlesbrough’s Harry Chapman is a man who – if given the opportunity to return by ‘Boro boss Tony Pulis – would have a lot to make up for at Ewood Park, having only been a bit-part player during the games he did play.
Having arrived in Lancashire with a perceived blessing of guaranteed promotion, having assisted both Barnsley and Sheffield United into the Championship during the past 2 seasons, Chapman was able to continue his tradition and make it a hat-trick of promotions on his CV, despite not playing as much of a part as he would have liked. With there being some confusion surrounding the length of his contract at his parent club, it was eventually announced that the 20-year old’s deal had an extension clause which was activated, meaning that Chapman was tied down to Middlesbrough’s books until the summer of 2019. As Chapman is highly rated by, both the fans and the development staff on Teesside, a permanent move for the winger would potentially be out of Rovers’ price range, but with the 20-year old forming formidable friendships within the group and constantly supporting the team on social media over the course of the season, there is no reason why he or the management at Middlesbrough may decline the opportunity for a second temporary return to Ewood Park.
Despite his injury away to Wigan Athletic in late October 2017, Chapman had made quite a name for himself in the Blue and White of Rovers with his impressive cameo appearances which displayed the pace and power he had in the wide areas, which, as mentioned in the previous article, is something Rovers currently lack within their ranks. Having only been able to amass 12 games, which included only 1 start, he was able to present his ability to pick out a pass having created 3 assists in the short time he was given to play. In addition to the assists, he was able to grab his first, and only goal of the campaign after some lovely piece of footwork saw him skip past a couple of Rotherham United defenders, before shooting and scoring the rebound after his initial effort was saved and despite his brief impact, the Rovers fans knew that they had a talent on their books, which shows why Mowbray should do everything in his power to resign the winger, either permanently, or temporarily, as hinted at during the January window.
With Rovers relatively short on strikers heading into their Championship return, with only Danny Graham, Dominic Samuel and Joe Nuttall, the 3 registered forwards on Mowbray’s team sheet, a return for Newcastle United hitman Adam Armstrong would be a statement of intent from the club, as well as being well received by the fans who grew towards the 21-year old during his short spell at Ewood Park.
After previously working with Tony Mowbray at Coventry, where he netted an impressive 20 goals in 40 games in League 1, Armstrong worked his magic and blessed Rovers with some crucial goals which catapulted the team from the playoff places, to the automatic promotion spots. Despite coming into the club off the back of a poor start to the season at Bolton Wanderers in the Championship, the Geordie forward’s Rovers spell started off slowly before bursting into life with 4 goals in 3 games, which included a brace in a 2-1 win away at Portsmouth. Following on from his quartet of goals, Armstrong then went on to net against rivals Wigan Athletic before netting another brace away at MK Dons which, again, saw Rovers win by a 2-1 scoreline.
With his pedigree in the Blue and White halves already noticed, through his prolific stats in League 1, Armstrong has also proven to have the quality to net goals in the second tier of English football – as seen by the video below – having pocketed 6 goals in 34 appearances, with only 21 of the 34 being starts. Although from the outside looking in, those second-tier stats may look worrying, but what needs to be remembered is, if Armstrong is to return to the Championship with Rovers, he will not only be more experienced and tougher, both mentally and physically, but he would be in a side which he knew well and had strong relations with, both on and off the field, having already played with them for half a season, unlike his time at Bolton Wanderers and Barnsley which saw him have no experience with the side, prior to pre-season.
In terms of the financial side of the deal, there has been reports of a permanent deal being briefly discussed, with Rafa Benítez reportedly looking to raise funds for his own transfer kitty, and if needed, would be willing to depart with Armstrong, to fund his dealings. If such a move does not materialise, then a loan move would certainly be on the cards with Armstrong having little to no realistic chance of making the Magpie’s first team squad next season as he’s down in the pecking order after Dwight Gayle, Ayoze Pérez, Joselu and Aleksandar Mitrović. Consequently, the Chapel House-born forward may yet start to call Lancashire home for the foreseeable future.
The final player, who admittedly would probably be the hardest of the 6 to acquire, is a forward synonymous with goals, regardless of the league he’s played in, or the colour of the shirt he’s worn. After Peterborough United shelled out an impressive fee of around £500,000, Jack Marriott has taken League 1 by storm with his blistering pace and eye for goal, having joined from then-League 2 side Luton Town in the summer of 2017.
Despite rejecting reported bids of up to £4million for the 23-year old in January, Marriott, if somewhat miraculously showed up in the Blue and White halves of Rovers on the opening day against Ipswich Town, would potentially be the permanent hitman the club haven’t seen since the days of Jordan Rhodes and Rudy Gestede – both of whom, for the record, would slot back into this side if the unthinkable happened. Away from dwelling on the past and what might have been, Peterborough United’s forward, would logically not come at a cheap price, however if Venky’s incredibly handed over a transfer kitty which crept up into the double-digit millions, in order to match the hysterical spending of the Championship nowadays, then Marriott should be atop of Mowbray’s list as he would no doubt guarantee the goals that would be needed to stay and potentially surprise the division.
Concentrating solely on the Beverley-born forward’s achievements over the past 12 months, Marriott was included alongside Bradley Dack, David Raya and Charlie Mulgrew in the EFL League 1’s 2017-18 Team of the Season, whilst also claiming the division’s golden boot for himself after notching an astounding 27 goals from the 44 games he played, which included a consolation against Rovers in December 2017.
In terms of where he’d fit in Rovers’ system, if signed, Marriott would more than likely spearhead the side and press from the front, in a similar fashion to Danny Graham. With Mowbray more than likely set to stick with a variant of the 4-2-3-1 which proved so successful last campaign, the likes of Danny Graham and Dominic Samuel would have to settle for being impact players, or rotational options, rather than nailed on starters, and with the former’s age and the latter’s lack of consistency, that may well be the best option in order to get the best out of all 3 of the front-men.
